About 5 minutes’ drive from the centre of Tallinn, Kadriorg is the leafy equivalent of London’s Kensington – with a rustic, English-style park and historic palace. Around the park, elegant wooden houses built during the late Russian period remain the home of Tallinn’s smart set, while the Estonian Art Museum is the only place you’re going to find European art of any real quality in the country.
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rnHoused in a grand, Italiante chateau complete with formal gardens and topiary, the museum was once kadriorg Palace – built by Peter the Great in the early 18th century for his wide Catherine I and today a rare couterpoint to Tallinn’s weighty medievil charm.
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rnThe collection includes European art from the Renaissance onwards – and although you wouldn’t come here for world-famous masterpieces there are enough pieces to keep the art lover happy for an hour or two in beautiful surrounding.